| Show nationwide nation wide survey planned to improve coal minin mining 9 methods washing washington Vas hington ton D C nov 1 I creation by the american mining alining congress of a national committee on mechanized li mining lining to conduct a five year program for extension oi of mechanized mining methods in ill the anthracite and bituminous minous coal regions of the country was announced today boday it will embrace a survey of developments and possibilities in coal mine mechanization for the purpose of promoting safety efficiency and economy in the production of coal the movement has the support of prominent coal operators of more than twenty one states who will act as state chairmen assisted by district chairmen in the separate coal districts As a result of the work it is expected the coal industry by the use of mechanical mining methods will reach the high I 1 production standards attained by other industries in all nearly coal operators will be actively engaged in the work of the committee in stimulating the use of machinery in the production of coal and make available to the entire industry the latest developments in ill mechanized mining under the plan of procedure the district chairmen will report to the state chairmen and their reports will bere be reviewed by nine nine practice specialists and issued by can mining congress from its headquarters at washington acting as a clearinghouse for the industry and making available to it the latest practices in mechanical mining methods ineth in use in the coal fields prominent men at head of movement dr L E young of pittsburg vice president of the pittsburg coal company heads the committee as national chairman dr young is chairman of the mining and loading section of the national standardization division of the american mining congress which sponsored the first year book on coal mine mechanization published last may J D zook of chicago 6 president and chief commissioner of the illinois coal operators labor association and formerly general g manager of the coal company is vice chairman dr young has long been an ardent advocate of the advantages of mechanization as applied to coal production and mr zook is a recognized leader among coal men who has long been actively identified with the work the new mechanization program is an enlargement of the work of the american minin mining 6 congress which dair during the past five years has conducted at cincinnati an annual convention of practical coal operating men and an all position exposition of mining machinery at which operators participated in discussions of their practical coal operating problems creation of a new committee is an outgrowth of an all investigation conducted by the american mining congress through glenn B southward its mechanization engineer during the last wo years under the mining and loading see sec toll ion of the national standardization division of which colonel warren R roberts of chicago chairman of the board of the roberts and schaefer company nationally known authority upon mining standards is chairman of its coal in mining ining branch colonel roberts is cooperating in developing the new committee which will not conflict with or eliminate the activities of any of the existing standardization committees the new committee will act as a research body for the division our mechanization survey has shown that mechanical equipment is being used to such an extent and under tinder such varying conditions that coal mine mechanization is a subject for research and correlation rather than of standardization says the american mining congress in announcing its new activity the data to be gathered by th the e mechanization committee will be available to the various standardization committees and through the cooperation of colonel roberts it is expected that new mining standards will be solved industry passing through evolution period the coal industry is passing through a nationwide nation wide evolution from hand to machine methods and the work of the committee will be to cooperate with the industry so as to bring about the change with less waste in money time and effort enlargement of the mechanization work is the most advanced step taken by the coal industry in recent years the purpose in organizing this national committee is to provide a means for keep keeping in the industry informed coil concerning developments in mec mechanization animation aniza tion and to furnish coal operators with current information as to what is now going za oil en rather than with a review of what took place heretofore the recent mechanization survey indicated that the successful operation of loading equipment is reaching such proportions that it is of vital interest to every coal operator to keep in close touch with its movement irrespective of whether his mine is mechanized or not the work of this committee will be nationwide nation wide in scope and will cover every ever coal producing field in the country the change from hand to mechanical loading effects all other mining operations and the work of this committee will cover all changes from hand loading practices to mechanical loading 6 equipment and mining Z methods the reports to be issued on the activities of the committee will wil show the progress made in the various coal fields and the developments in the different phases of mining the first step toward the loading b of coal mechanically took place twenty years ago when an experimental mechanical loader was ivas introduced until after the war however there was not much activity in the i mechanization field deflation and the need for reduced mining costs impelled the coal industry to experiment with this equipment and the mechanical iolder loader conveyor and scraper were developed the mechanization survey reports of the past two years have shown the coal industry that operation of this equipment underground will result in a saving there is now greater activity in the installation of mechanical loading equipment than ever before the work of the committee will contribute to the benefit of the public miner operator and manufacturer the public will secure cleaner and more economical coal them the miner will be assured safer working conditions through better supervised better ventilated and concentrated working places and be enabled to raise his economic status because of numerous specialized tasks incidental to the mechanized mining of coal the operator will have more continuous and more profitable recovery of coal and the manufacturer of mining equipment will be better able to serve the industry and assist in promoting its efficiency and prosperity state chairmen are named the national committee will include the following state chairmen ALABAMA D A thornas thomas of birmingham president and treasurer of the montvillo Mont vallo coal company ARKANSAS and OKLAHOMA J G of mcalester okla president of the mcalester fuel company COLORADO and NEW MEXICO D A stout of pueblo colo chief engineer of mines of the colorado fuel and iron company ILLINOIS L D smith of chicago vice president of the chicago wilmington and franklin coal company INDIANA INDI AiNA david ingle of oakland city president of the ayrshire coal company OHIO ezra van horn of cleveland general manager of the clarkson coal mining an company WESTERN pennsylvania AV L affelder of pittsburg vice president of the hillman coal and coke company CENTRAL pennsylvania E J of AVind windber ber general manager of the berwind white coal mining alining company anthracite MINES OF pennsylvania J B warriner of lansford vice president of the lehigh coal and navigation company UTAH D D muir of salt lake city vice president of the united states smelting smelling Sm elting refining and mining company SOUTHERN WEST VIRGINIA M L garvey of macdonald general 21 manager of the new river company 1 NORTHERN WEST VIRGINIA and MARYLAND F R lyon of fairmont W va vice president of the consolidated coal company WYOMING and MONTANA edward bottomley of kleenburn Kleen burn wyo general superintend superintendent ten dent of the sheridan wyoming coal company state chairmen for iowa missouri and kansas and for virginia kentucky and tennessee are in process of selection |
